Treeky111
06-01-2008, 12:37 AM
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LeafClan: Berrystar’s Story
It was a sunny morning. Berrystar emerged from his den and jumped up onto the great rock that made his den.. He watched the Clan for a moment, observing what they were doing. Suddenly he called them.
“All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the high rock for a Clan meeting.” He yowled to the Clan. “As you probably know, we face many threats. RiverClan is growing stronger. Even worse, Sharptooths are invading the territory. I have made a new rule; no cat will leave camp without a warrior. Warriors are to have at least one other warrior with them.”
Berrystar jumped down from the high rock and dismissed the cats of LeafClan with a flick of his tail. He looked over the cats. He saw Cedarpelt organizing patrols. He decided he would take Yellowtail and Fuzzyfur on a patrol with him. He called them over.
“You two are to patrol with me today.” Berrystar ordered. “Come now.”
Berrystar set off and slipped through the gorse tunnel. He led his patrol along the RiverClan border. In an instant, RiverClan scent flooded his nostrils. He crouched low on the ground and waited for the cats to come. Berrystar signaled with his tail for his patrol to do the same.
He crept forward through the bushes. Standing right outside the border, was a RiverClan patrol. There weren’t just any warriors in that patrol though. The RiverClan leader was in it. He also saw the deputy, Fireheart, and his apprentice, Starpaw.
Berrystar let out an earsplitting screech and launched himself into battle. Mosstar turned and hissed at him. He tackled her and pinned her down, easily. Mosstar kicked and thrashed under him but he was bigger. He bit down on her ear and she wriggled out of his grip and sprang into the bushes. Berrystar looked around, eager to protect his Clanmates. He saw that Fuzzyfur had pinned Starpaw down. He looked around for Yellowtail and saw him struggling under Fireheart’s grip.
Berrystar yowled and threw his body at Fireheart. He hit Fireheart hard and raked his claws along the RiverClan deputy’s side. Fireheart let out a yowl and ran through the bushes. Seeing that the other RiverClan warriors had gone, Fuzzyfur let go of Starpaw. Starpaw dashed into the bushes after her mentor.
“Whoo!” Yellowtail sighed. “That was a close one!’
“Yeah.” Fuzzyfur declared.
“Let’s get back to camp.” Berrystar ordered. “I’m glad I made that rule before this happened. It seems RiverClan is more hostile than before.”
Berrystar set off back to camp with Fuzzyfur and Yellowtail behind him. As they approached camp they heard the yowl of fighting cats. Berrystar dashed toward the camp and peeked out of the gorse tunnel. Sharptooth were attacking! It was obvious that the Clan was losing the battle. The Sharptooth were three times their size. He could see that most of the Clan had hid in his den or had leapt up to some of the topmost branches of the tree that made LeafClan camp.
Berrystar ducked back in the tunnel. Now all the cats were hidden and the Sharptooth were starting to retreat. He saw a Sharptooth kit at the end of the group. It was falling behind and limping badly. He saw the opportunity to kill it. Berryclaw jumped out of the gorse tunnel and jumped on its back. Not expecting the attack, the Sharptooth froze. Berrystar bit into its neck and killed it with a kick into its soft underbelly.
Berrystar scraped some dirt over his catch and started to follow the group of Sharptooth. They led him into a small clearing. He could jumped up onto a ledge and see the camp below him. Luckily, the Sharptooth couldn’t see him. He saw an opportunity for a sneak attack but decided to push it aside. He jumped down and dashed back to camp without a trace.
Berrystar woke up in his den. He looked around for a second and then remembered that he was leader of LeafClan. It was hard without Fuzzystar’s guidance. He wished he could go back to the good old days. When Fuzzystar was the great leader and he was the loyal deputy.
He prayed to StarClan for guidance. He could not face these threats alone. His deputy, Cedarpelt, and Golden Warrior, Frostflower, had no special connections with StarClan. He was alone in space, floating away from the world. He could only turn to Moonfang for help. Moonfang was the medicine cat with a white pelt that shone like the moon.
Berrystar padded out of his den and jumped up to the branch next to the medicine den. He padded through the hole in the tree to see Moonfang organizing herbs. He padded over to him.
“Moonfang?” Berrystar asked. “Have you had any signs from StarClan lately?”
“No.” Moonfang sighed. “But Fuzzyfur had a dream. You should go speak to her about it.”
Berrystar thanked him and padded out of the den. He looked inside the Warriors’ den and all around camp but he couldn’t find her. He padded through the gorse tunnel and picked up her scent.. He followed Fuzzyfur’s scent into the training hollow. Of course! He thought. Berrystar padded into the training hollow and saw Ivypaw and Fuzzyfur fighting. He knew they were training because they both had sheathed claws.
“Fuzzyfur.” He called her over. “Moonfang told me that you had a dream from StarClan. Is this true?”
“Yes.” Fuzzyfur replied.
“What was it about?” He asked.
“I saw a roaring river.” She said. “And it was blood flowing inside its banks, not normal water. It was the color of death berries. I think this has something to do with you defeating RiverClan.”
“Really?” Berrystar asked. “Thank StarClan!”
Berrystar dashed off without a goodbye. He ran toward camp. Something told him that there was something bad going to happen. As he approached camp he heard the cries of battle. RiverClan! He thought. He dashed through the gorse tunnel to see RiverClan and LeafClan cats locked in battle. Fuzzyfur and Ivypaw came up behind him. They saw what was happening and launched into battle.
Berrystar ran into camp and looked around for any cats in distress. He saw Frostflower locked in battle with Mosstar. Frostflower was a small cat. She was powerful but nowhere near as strong as Mosstar. He dashed at Mosstar and launched himself right into her. Mosstar let out a yowl of surprise.
Berrystar clawed at Mosstar’s soft belly and raked them across her face. She managed to wriggle out of his grip and jumped on his back. She dug her claws through his thick fur and into his skin. Blood seeped into his pelt and made him feel sticky and uncomfortable.
He shook her off and pounced on her. He bit into her ear as hard as he could. She yowled louder and jumped out of his grip. Mosstar dashed out of camp quickly. When the other RiverClan cats saw that their leader had given up they got up and fled.
Berrystar sighed. He didn’t know how long LeafClan would be able to keep this up. It was only a matter of time before some cat was seriously injured or even killed. Berrystar prayed to StarClan that they would help LeafClan. Then an idea popped into his head. He jumped up onto the high rock and called the Clan together.
“All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the high rock for a Clan meeting.” He said as the cats assembled below him. “I have an important announcement to make. I will be going to the moonstone to ask StarClan for answers. Cedarpelt, you are in charge until I return.”
He dismissed the Clan with a flick of his tail and padded off through the gorse tunnel. He crouched down in the undergrowth and scented the air for RiverClan or Sharptooth. He crossed the stream that made the border between LeafClan territory and RiverClan territory. From there, he ran toward the moonstone.
Berrystar arrived at the moonstone, unnoticed. He lay down and let his nose touch the hard, cold, stone. The moon had risen high in the sky and the moonstone was beginning to glitter and shine. Almost instantly, he fell into a deep slumber.
Berrystar tumbled into darkness until he finally hit ground. He knew he was dreaming because there were starry cats all around him. One in particular stepped forward.
“Berrystar.” She called. “LeafClan will face a long hardship this Leafbare. The only way to prevent it is to rid the land of the Sharptooth.”
“How?” Was Berrystar’s only answer.
“By planning an invasion.” She said. “Sneak into their camp and chase them out.”
“How?” Berrystar repeated.
Before the starry she cat could answer, the cats of StarClan began to fade away. He caught one more glimpse of them before he was blasted with light. He lifted his head. He was in the waking world. He got up slowly. He stretched his limbs and then began the long journey back to LeafClan camp.
He emerged in to the clearing and looked for any disturbances. It was a busy day in the middle of Greenleaf. He looked for Cedarpelt. Then he saw Frostflower dragging an apprentice out of camp. He was dead. It was not just any apprentice though. It was a RiverClan apprentice. Berrystar padded toward them.
“What are you doing?” He demanded.
“RiverClan were spying.” Replied Frostflower.
“So you killed the apprentice?” He growled.
“Yes.” Frostflower meowed nervously. “We pinned him to the tree and fed him deathberries.”
“You should not have done that.” Berrystar scolded. “Now for your punishment.”
“Oh no…” Sighed Frostflower.
“You are to sleep in the apprentices den.” Berrystar growled. “And do all the apprentice duties you would if you were an actual apprentice.”
Frostflower sighed and padded away. Berrystar went the opposite way. He looked around for the second. Now everything looked normal. He was ready to called the meeting to sneak in and chase out the Sharptooth but he had no plan. He padded through the slit in the rock and into his den.
He settled down in his nest and thought. Once or twice it occurred to him that he should just take the whole Clan in and attack with no plan. Reluctantly, he decided not too. Then it hit him. They would go in at night. It would be when many Sharptooth were in their clearing. The cats would jump down and surprise them. They would land on their backs and kill or chase all of them off.
That would be the end of most of their worries. He finally had a plan that he was sure would work. He knew that he would have to call the Clan together for the announcement. He couldn’t guarantee that they would all make it back alive. Suddenly, he knew he had to do this. He padded out of the den to make the announcement.
* * *
Berrystar was padding toward the Sharptooth camp. It had been three sunrises since he had made the plan to attack the Sharptooth. Now it was time to put that plan to action. The sun was setting. He wanted to get there before nightfall and get settled. In the distance he could see the cavern that made Sharptooth camp. He started padding faster. Soon it was only a few fox lengths away.
Berrystar leaped up to the top of the cavern and signaled for the rest of the Clan to follow. He saw the whole Sharptooth group down there. The Clan cats now outnumbered Sharptooth. The sun had started to fall behind the large twoleg structure. In the distance he could see another large group of cats on its way here.
Berrystar started to panic. Then he realized it was a Clan. It wasn’t RiverClan though. It was BarkingSquirrelClan! Berrystar could have jumped for joy as the cats approached. He acknowledged their leader with a dip of his head. Highstar seemed to know what was happening. He sat down and waited.
Once the sun had set completely behind the twoleg structure, the Sharptooth began to emerge from their dens. Of course! Berrystar thought. They’re nocturnal! Then, an abnormally large Sharptooth leapt up to a tall root that was planted into the soil. As if by magic, the rest of the Sharptooth gathered beneath him.
Berrystar readied the group of cats with a flick of his tail. Then he let out an earsplitting screech and leapt on to the largest Sharptooth that he believed to be the leader. It let out a screech of surprise and thrashed wildly. Berrystar hung on with all his might. His claws dug into the Sharptooth’s flesh letting the blood leak onto his claws. He spat in disgust.
The Sharptooth got angrier and shook harder. Berrystar flew off and hit the ground with a thud. Realizing that his attacker was lying on ground, the Sharptooth crouched and stalked toward him. It bared its teeth at him and he lashed out with his abnormally long claws. The Sharptooth jumped back but only got madder. This time it opened it mouth to eat Berrystar.
Just as the Sharptooth was about to take a bite out of Berrystar, Frostflower and Thunderpelt came out of nowhere. They ran at The Sharptooth and jumped at it. They crashed into it at the same time, knocking it to the ground. The Sharptooth leader was dead. As for Berrystar he sat there, eyes glazed. Berrystar had lost a life.
Seeing that their leader was dead, the Sharptooth fled from the battle. LeafClan had won. All the cats crowded around Berrystar, praying to StarClan he wasn’t completely dead. Moonfang yowled as he ran through the crowd of cats. He examined Berrystar.
“He is losing a life.” Moonfang finally announced. “This is his third. He six more. No need to worry.”
The cats gasped. They could not bare to see their leader in so much pain. After what seemed like moons, Berrystar got up. The cats of LeafClan cheered.
“I lost a life…” Berrystar mumbled. “But we won.”
“Yes.” Cedarpelt chipped in. “The Sharptooth will trouble us no more.”
“Now,” Berrystar announced. “It’s time to teach RiverClan a lesson.”
“Your not going to run them out?” Frostflower meowed.
“After all, there have always been three Clans.” Highstar meowed.
“Of course not!” Berrystar growled. “We just need to teach them a lesson.”
The stars shown brightly overhead. Not a cloud drifted over the moon. StarClan approve. Berrystar thought. The two leaders nodded their goodbyes and without another word, they set off back toward their own camps and signaled for the rest of their Clans to follow. They padded in opposite directions, not knowing what would happen the next time they met.
* * *
It was the full moon. Berrystar was padding toward the Shiny Jungle for the gathering. It was three days after they had raided the Sharptooth. He felt sore and weak and was sure the whole Clan felt the same way. Shiny Jungle wasn’t far from RiverClan or LeafClan camps. Luckily, the full moon meant a truce.
Berrystar emerged into the Shiny Jungle with his Clanmates behind him. He saw that BarkingSquirrelClan had already arrived. And by the RiverClan stench that was getting stronger every pawstep, he knew that RiverClan were close. Berrystar jumped up onto the Blue Branch where he would speak when it was his turn. Highstar greeted him with a swift flick of the tail and they waited for Mosstar to come too.
Mosstar jumped up on to the long blue branch and glared at Berrystar. Berrystar turned away and flicked his tail for Highstar to start first. Highstar stepped forward and began to address the cats.
“Prey is plentiful for BarkingSquirrelClan.” Highstar yowled. “We’ve recently had a new litter of two kits and one of our apprentices was made a warrior. The prey shows no sign of hiding or leaving even though Leaffall is almost here.”
Highstar stepped back and flicked his tail toward Mosstar. She padded forward.
“Things are not as good in RiverClan. Less than a quarter moon ago, one of our apprentices was killed.” Then she turned to Berrystar and glared at him. “By your Clan!”
“That is not true!” Berrystar yowled at her.
“It is!” Mosstar repeated. “Why did he not come back from spying then?”
“That is why we fed him deathberries.” Berrystar meowed, calmly. “He would have told you many secrets about us and led you to attack us again.”
“Hmph.” Mosstar growled and stepped back, letting Berrystar come forward, seeing she had lost the argument.
“The prey is running well in LeafClan.” Berrystar meowed. “Just recently we won two battles against RiverClan and with the help of BarkingSquirrelClan, we chased off every last Sharptooth.”
Berrystar stepped back and jumped of the Blue Branch. He signaled with his tail for LeafClan to follow and the cats padded back to camp. Berrystar grinned at his job. He loved making Mosstar madder and madder. He knew he was putting the Clan in danger but RiverClan would soon learn their lesson.
Light filtered through a hole at the roof of den. Berrystar lifted his head and got up. His belly growled with hunger. He decided to hunt alone today. He stepped out of the slit in the great rock that made his den. He saw Frostflower and Cedarpelt talking. He saw that Fuzzyfur and Ivypaw were padding into the gorse tunnel with Pebbleclaw and Oakpaw beside them.
He decided to follow them and evaluate the apprentices’ performance. He padded into the gorse tunnel after them. He stepped out of the tunnel and into the forest of oak and willow trees. The training hollow was in sight. Berrystar padded after them and emerged into the hollow.
LeafClan: Berrystar’s Story
It was a sunny morning. Berrystar emerged from his den and jumped up onto the great rock that made his den.. He watched the Clan for a moment, observing what they were doing. Suddenly he called them.
“All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the high rock for a Clan meeting.” He yowled to the Clan. “As you probably know, we face many threats. RiverClan is growing stronger. Even worse, Sharptooths are invading the territory. I have made a new rule; no cat will leave camp without a warrior. Warriors are to have at least one other warrior with them.”
Berrystar jumped down from the high rock and dismissed the cats of LeafClan with a flick of his tail. He looked over the cats. He saw Cedarpelt organizing patrols. He decided he would take Yellowtail and Fuzzyfur on a patrol with him. He called them over.
“You two are to patrol with me today.” Berrystar ordered. “Come now.”
Berrystar set off and slipped through the gorse tunnel. He led his patrol along the RiverClan border. In an instant, RiverClan scent flooded his nostrils. He crouched low on the ground and waited for the cats to come. Berrystar signaled with his tail for his patrol to do the same.
He crept forward through the bushes. Standing right outside the border, was a RiverClan patrol. There weren’t just any warriors in that patrol though. The RiverClan leader was in it. He also saw the deputy, Fireheart, and his apprentice, Starpaw.
Berrystar let out an earsplitting screech and launched himself into battle. Mosstar turned and hissed at him. He tackled her and pinned her down, easily. Mosstar kicked and thrashed under him but he was bigger. He bit down on her ear and she wriggled out of his grip and sprang into the bushes. Berrystar looked around, eager to protect his Clanmates. He saw that Fuzzyfur had pinned Starpaw down. He looked around for Yellowtail and saw him struggling under Fireheart’s grip.
Berrystar yowled and threw his body at Fireheart. He hit Fireheart hard and raked his claws along the RiverClan deputy’s side. Fireheart let out a yowl and ran through the bushes. Seeing that the other RiverClan warriors had gone, Fuzzyfur let go of Starpaw. Starpaw dashed into the bushes after her mentor.
“Whoo!” Yellowtail sighed. “That was a close one!’
“Yeah.” Fuzzyfur declared.
“Let’s get back to camp.” Berrystar ordered. “I’m glad I made that rule before this happened. It seems RiverClan is more hostile than before.”
Berrystar set off back to camp with Fuzzyfur and Yellowtail behind him. As they approached camp they heard the yowl of fighting cats. Berrystar dashed toward the camp and peeked out of the gorse tunnel. Sharptooth were attacking! It was obvious that the Clan was losing the battle. The Sharptooth were three times their size. He could see that most of the Clan had hid in his den or had leapt up to some of the topmost branches of the tree that made LeafClan camp.
Berrystar ducked back in the tunnel. Now all the cats were hidden and the Sharptooth were starting to retreat. He saw a Sharptooth kit at the end of the group. It was falling behind and limping badly. He saw the opportunity to kill it. Berryclaw jumped out of the gorse tunnel and jumped on its back. Not expecting the attack, the Sharptooth froze. Berrystar bit into its neck and killed it with a kick into its soft underbelly.
Berrystar scraped some dirt over his catch and started to follow the group of Sharptooth. They led him into a small clearing. He could jumped up onto a ledge and see the camp below him. Luckily, the Sharptooth couldn’t see him. He saw an opportunity for a sneak attack but decided to push it aside. He jumped down and dashed back to camp without a trace.
Berrystar woke up in his den. He looked around for a second and then remembered that he was leader of LeafClan. It was hard without Fuzzystar’s guidance. He wished he could go back to the good old days. When Fuzzystar was the great leader and he was the loyal deputy.
He prayed to StarClan for guidance. He could not face these threats alone. His deputy, Cedarpelt, and Golden Warrior, Frostflower, had no special connections with StarClan. He was alone in space, floating away from the world. He could only turn to Moonfang for help. Moonfang was the medicine cat with a white pelt that shone like the moon.
Berrystar padded out of his den and jumped up to the branch next to the medicine den. He padded through the hole in the tree to see Moonfang organizing herbs. He padded over to him.
“Moonfang?” Berrystar asked. “Have you had any signs from StarClan lately?”
“No.” Moonfang sighed. “But Fuzzyfur had a dream. You should go speak to her about it.”
Berrystar thanked him and padded out of the den. He looked inside the Warriors’ den and all around camp but he couldn’t find her. He padded through the gorse tunnel and picked up her scent.. He followed Fuzzyfur’s scent into the training hollow. Of course! He thought. Berrystar padded into the training hollow and saw Ivypaw and Fuzzyfur fighting. He knew they were training because they both had sheathed claws.
“Fuzzyfur.” He called her over. “Moonfang told me that you had a dream from StarClan. Is this true?”
“Yes.” Fuzzyfur replied.
“What was it about?” He asked.
“I saw a roaring river.” She said. “And it was blood flowing inside its banks, not normal water. It was the color of death berries. I think this has something to do with you defeating RiverClan.”
“Really?” Berrystar asked. “Thank StarClan!”
Berrystar dashed off without a goodbye. He ran toward camp. Something told him that there was something bad going to happen. As he approached camp he heard the cries of battle. RiverClan! He thought. He dashed through the gorse tunnel to see RiverClan and LeafClan cats locked in battle. Fuzzyfur and Ivypaw came up behind him. They saw what was happening and launched into battle.
Berrystar ran into camp and looked around for any cats in distress. He saw Frostflower locked in battle with Mosstar. Frostflower was a small cat. She was powerful but nowhere near as strong as Mosstar. He dashed at Mosstar and launched himself right into her. Mosstar let out a yowl of surprise.
Berrystar clawed at Mosstar’s soft belly and raked them across her face. She managed to wriggle out of his grip and jumped on his back. She dug her claws through his thick fur and into his skin. Blood seeped into his pelt and made him feel sticky and uncomfortable.
He shook her off and pounced on her. He bit into her ear as hard as he could. She yowled louder and jumped out of his grip. Mosstar dashed out of camp quickly. When the other RiverClan cats saw that their leader had given up they got up and fled.
Berrystar sighed. He didn’t know how long LeafClan would be able to keep this up. It was only a matter of time before some cat was seriously injured or even killed. Berrystar prayed to StarClan that they would help LeafClan. Then an idea popped into his head. He jumped up onto the high rock and called the Clan together.
“All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the high rock for a Clan meeting.” He said as the cats assembled below him. “I have an important announcement to make. I will be going to the moonstone to ask StarClan for answers. Cedarpelt, you are in charge until I return.”
He dismissed the Clan with a flick of his tail and padded off through the gorse tunnel. He crouched down in the undergrowth and scented the air for RiverClan or Sharptooth. He crossed the stream that made the border between LeafClan territory and RiverClan territory. From there, he ran toward the moonstone.
Berrystar arrived at the moonstone, unnoticed. He lay down and let his nose touch the hard, cold, stone. The moon had risen high in the sky and the moonstone was beginning to glitter and shine. Almost instantly, he fell into a deep slumber.
Berrystar tumbled into darkness until he finally hit ground. He knew he was dreaming because there were starry cats all around him. One in particular stepped forward.
“Berrystar.” She called. “LeafClan will face a long hardship this Leafbare. The only way to prevent it is to rid the land of the Sharptooth.”
“How?” Was Berrystar’s only answer.
“By planning an invasion.” She said. “Sneak into their camp and chase them out.”
“How?” Berrystar repeated.
Before the starry she cat could answer, the cats of StarClan began to fade away. He caught one more glimpse of them before he was blasted with light. He lifted his head. He was in the waking world. He got up slowly. He stretched his limbs and then began the long journey back to LeafClan camp.
He emerged in to the clearing and looked for any disturbances. It was a busy day in the middle of Greenleaf. He looked for Cedarpelt. Then he saw Frostflower dragging an apprentice out of camp. He was dead. It was not just any apprentice though. It was a RiverClan apprentice. Berrystar padded toward them.
“What are you doing?” He demanded.
“RiverClan were spying.” Replied Frostflower.
“So you killed the apprentice?” He growled.
“Yes.” Frostflower meowed nervously. “We pinned him to the tree and fed him deathberries.”
“You should not have done that.” Berrystar scolded. “Now for your punishment.”
“Oh no…” Sighed Frostflower.
“You are to sleep in the apprentices den.” Berrystar growled. “And do all the apprentice duties you would if you were an actual apprentice.”
Frostflower sighed and padded away. Berrystar went the opposite way. He looked around for the second. Now everything looked normal. He was ready to called the meeting to sneak in and chase out the Sharptooth but he had no plan. He padded through the slit in the rock and into his den.
He settled down in his nest and thought. Once or twice it occurred to him that he should just take the whole Clan in and attack with no plan. Reluctantly, he decided not too. Then it hit him. They would go in at night. It would be when many Sharptooth were in their clearing. The cats would jump down and surprise them. They would land on their backs and kill or chase all of them off.
That would be the end of most of their worries. He finally had a plan that he was sure would work. He knew that he would have to call the Clan together for the announcement. He couldn’t guarantee that they would all make it back alive. Suddenly, he knew he had to do this. He padded out of the den to make the announcement.
* * *
Berrystar was padding toward the Sharptooth camp. It had been three sunrises since he had made the plan to attack the Sharptooth. Now it was time to put that plan to action. The sun was setting. He wanted to get there before nightfall and get settled. In the distance he could see the cavern that made Sharptooth camp. He started padding faster. Soon it was only a few fox lengths away.
Berrystar leaped up to the top of the cavern and signaled for the rest of the Clan to follow. He saw the whole Sharptooth group down there. The Clan cats now outnumbered Sharptooth. The sun had started to fall behind the large twoleg structure. In the distance he could see another large group of cats on its way here.
Berrystar started to panic. Then he realized it was a Clan. It wasn’t RiverClan though. It was BarkingSquirrelClan! Berrystar could have jumped for joy as the cats approached. He acknowledged their leader with a dip of his head. Highstar seemed to know what was happening. He sat down and waited.
Once the sun had set completely behind the twoleg structure, the Sharptooth began to emerge from their dens. Of course! Berrystar thought. They’re nocturnal! Then, an abnormally large Sharptooth leapt up to a tall root that was planted into the soil. As if by magic, the rest of the Sharptooth gathered beneath him.
Berrystar readied the group of cats with a flick of his tail. Then he let out an earsplitting screech and leapt on to the largest Sharptooth that he believed to be the leader. It let out a screech of surprise and thrashed wildly. Berrystar hung on with all his might. His claws dug into the Sharptooth’s flesh letting the blood leak onto his claws. He spat in disgust.
The Sharptooth got angrier and shook harder. Berrystar flew off and hit the ground with a thud. Realizing that his attacker was lying on ground, the Sharptooth crouched and stalked toward him. It bared its teeth at him and he lashed out with his abnormally long claws. The Sharptooth jumped back but only got madder. This time it opened it mouth to eat Berrystar.
Just as the Sharptooth was about to take a bite out of Berrystar, Frostflower and Thunderpelt came out of nowhere. They ran at The Sharptooth and jumped at it. They crashed into it at the same time, knocking it to the ground. The Sharptooth leader was dead. As for Berrystar he sat there, eyes glazed. Berrystar had lost a life.
Seeing that their leader was dead, the Sharptooth fled from the battle. LeafClan had won. All the cats crowded around Berrystar, praying to StarClan he wasn’t completely dead. Moonfang yowled as he ran through the crowd of cats. He examined Berrystar.
“He is losing a life.” Moonfang finally announced. “This is his third. He six more. No need to worry.”
The cats gasped. They could not bare to see their leader in so much pain. After what seemed like moons, Berrystar got up. The cats of LeafClan cheered.
“I lost a life…” Berrystar mumbled. “But we won.”
“Yes.” Cedarpelt chipped in. “The Sharptooth will trouble us no more.”
“Now,” Berrystar announced. “It’s time to teach RiverClan a lesson.”
“Your not going to run them out?” Frostflower meowed.
“After all, there have always been three Clans.” Highstar meowed.
“Of course not!” Berrystar growled. “We just need to teach them a lesson.”
The stars shown brightly overhead. Not a cloud drifted over the moon. StarClan approve. Berrystar thought. The two leaders nodded their goodbyes and without another word, they set off back toward their own camps and signaled for the rest of their Clans to follow. They padded in opposite directions, not knowing what would happen the next time they met.
* * *
It was the full moon. Berrystar was padding toward the Shiny Jungle for the gathering. It was three days after they had raided the Sharptooth. He felt sore and weak and was sure the whole Clan felt the same way. Shiny Jungle wasn’t far from RiverClan or LeafClan camps. Luckily, the full moon meant a truce.
Berrystar emerged into the Shiny Jungle with his Clanmates behind him. He saw that BarkingSquirrelClan had already arrived. And by the RiverClan stench that was getting stronger every pawstep, he knew that RiverClan were close. Berrystar jumped up onto the Blue Branch where he would speak when it was his turn. Highstar greeted him with a swift flick of the tail and they waited for Mosstar to come too.
Mosstar jumped up on to the long blue branch and glared at Berrystar. Berrystar turned away and flicked his tail for Highstar to start first. Highstar stepped forward and began to address the cats.
“Prey is plentiful for BarkingSquirrelClan.” Highstar yowled. “We’ve recently had a new litter of two kits and one of our apprentices was made a warrior. The prey shows no sign of hiding or leaving even though Leaffall is almost here.”
Highstar stepped back and flicked his tail toward Mosstar. She padded forward.
“Things are not as good in RiverClan. Less than a quarter moon ago, one of our apprentices was killed.” Then she turned to Berrystar and glared at him. “By your Clan!”
“That is not true!” Berrystar yowled at her.
“It is!” Mosstar repeated. “Why did he not come back from spying then?”
“That is why we fed him deathberries.” Berrystar meowed, calmly. “He would have told you many secrets about us and led you to attack us again.”
“Hmph.” Mosstar growled and stepped back, letting Berrystar come forward, seeing she had lost the argument.
“The prey is running well in LeafClan.” Berrystar meowed. “Just recently we won two battles against RiverClan and with the help of BarkingSquirrelClan, we chased off every last Sharptooth.”
Berrystar stepped back and jumped of the Blue Branch. He signaled with his tail for LeafClan to follow and the cats padded back to camp. Berrystar grinned at his job. He loved making Mosstar madder and madder. He knew he was putting the Clan in danger but RiverClan would soon learn their lesson.
Light filtered through a hole at the roof of den. Berrystar lifted his head and got up. His belly growled with hunger. He decided to hunt alone today. He stepped out of the slit in the great rock that made his den. He saw Frostflower and Cedarpelt talking. He saw that Fuzzyfur and Ivypaw were padding into the gorse tunnel with Pebbleclaw and Oakpaw beside them.
He decided to follow them and evaluate the apprentices’ performance. He padded into the gorse tunnel after them. He stepped out of the tunnel and into the forest of oak and willow trees. The training hollow was in sight. Berrystar padded after them and emerged into the hollow.